Dear Diary

Unfortunately I have been fairly inactive on my blog over the last week or two, simply down to the vast quantities of work that I have currently been set in each of my subjects, and trying to my best to give each subject an equal portion of my time. Despite the inactivity, I have continued to develop my ideas and products over this period. My storyboard draft has now been completed, and now I am just waiting to receive my formal storyboard sheets so I can copy them out. I have also continued work on my A2 coursework analysis, and I plan to get this done over the next week or so, either in a scribd format, or in a premiere video.

Equiptment Borrowing Sheet

This is the sheet that I had to use in order to rent out equipment that I could use to film my music video.

Editting Software

I will be using a range of products during the editting process of my video creation. The main product I will be using will be adobe premiere pro. This is the standard editting software that is available to us in school, and also the programme I have most experience using, and so I feel this will be the most effective method of editting my music video. I may also use after effects in the video creation process to create special effects. However this will be mainly time based as I have no experience using this software.

I will also use photoshop throughout the process. Although unlikely, I may use it to edit certain shots in my music video, however its main use will be when creating a range of products to go along with the main product. A few examples include; a digipak, and a poster. I will be using photoshop to create these products as I feel not only is this the best product for the job, but I also have a wealth of experience using the product from previous media tasks.

Initial Planning Ideas

I created this spider diagram in order to display some of my initial planning ideas for my music video. I included information based around the idea of the music video, any effects I may include, links to lyrics, and potential locations for filming. I seem to be set on the idea of focusing on a narrative based music video, mainly because I feel that it would be more relative to this song.

Dear Diary

This week I have continued to work on my research tasks. I now have only 3 tasks remaining, and I plan to get them completed over the next week. My music video idea has also been developed significantly, and I plan to get this storyboarded for next lesson. This will then speed up the development process for my music video, Hopefully allowing me to reach the end of november deadline for filming my music video.

Explaining My Narrative

This is a short quick document that just explains what I plan to include in my narrative. I plan to stick with this, as I feel that it is both a solid narrative, but also helps to work with the opposites theme that I am continuing to use.

Music Video Storyboard Sheets

This is my draft for how I plan for my music video to look, written by hand on storyboard sheets. I've got a few things to work out with it, specifically the timings as I fell a bit short on this sheet, however  this should be sorted by the time I come to edit, and I plan to create a document aimed simply at organising the schedule of my music video, including timings.

Tracking an Artist Throughout Their Entire Career

Dear Diary

Over this half term I have continued to work very hard on completing as many of the research tasks as possible. I now only have a couple more to do, and the even better news is I think I have come up with an idea for my music video, so I plan to storyboard this over the next few days. So far it look like I may complete my self made  target of completing all of the research tasks by the end of the half term.

Research Into Equipment

For this task, I decided it would be useful to look at some equipment that I have on offer for me to use to record my music video. 

I will use a range of equipment for the production of my music video, in order to both film and edit. The most significant of these will be the camera that I will use to film my music video.  For this I will be using the Canon 550D SLR. This is a standard camera that can be used throughout the recording of my music video, both for standard and high definition recordings. I feel that this camera will allow me to make a much more aesthetically pleasing product than would otherwise be possible if I chose to use another camera. I also plan to use this camera when taking photos for my Digipak and Magazine advert,  in which case I will also use a green screen combined with a softbox/alternative method of lighting my shots, in order to make them brighter or darker, depending on the type of magazine advert that I end up creating. A range of lenses can be used to accompany this camera, including a standard lens, and a fish eye lens, each offering a range of different effects, which will again add to the aesthetics of my video and/or tertiary products.

To accompany the use of this camera, I will be employing the use of a tripod. This will enable me to have a much steadier shot when filming, instead of it being shakey and jumpy. This will allow my product, particularly when filming my music video, to look much more processional than it would if this was not in use. This will also allow me to be more involved in the directing of my music video and helping my model with where they need to be, rather than focusing on where the camera is and making sure to hold it steady. I may also use this tripod when taking images for my tertiary products, as it has the ability to stand higher/lower than I would be able to if I positioned the  camera manually.

In addition to these products, I will also use a range of digital products to help with the post production of my music video and its accompanying products.

The primary editing tool that I shall be using when editing my music video will be Adobe Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro will allow me to cut and edit through my clips in a much more sophisticated manner than would be possible if I used a different programme, like Windows Movie Maker for example. It also allows me to easily insert my song onto the timeline  allowing me to easily manipulate my clips around what is happening in the song, and as a result creating a much more professional looking product.

I will also be using Adobe Photoshop CS6 in order to edit any photos or individual still images that I will use through the course of the project, most notably in the creation of my ancillary products. This programme will allow me to individually edit each of my photos to a high standard, giving me the oppurtunity to add colours and different saturations for example. It will also be the product that I use as the background when creating these products.

Analysis of Band Magazine Adverts

For this task, I thought it would be a good idea to analyse a range of band magazine adverts. Not only will this help me for when I have to design my own, but also it will give me an idea of  how a band promotes an album or event. 

This advert aims to promote a new album by the band 'Kings of Leon'. The main theme of the advert is the idea of the sun and summer, as connoted by the background image, of a pixelated tropical setting. This idea is further suggested by the title of the album that the poster is promoting 'Come Around Sundown'. The idea of summer of a very light and cheery one, perhaps a theme that is continued onto the album. It must be noted that no reviews are included on the advert, which may suggest that the band feel that they are big enough as they do not require reviews from credible sources,as they already have a solid fan base that buy their music based solely on the fact that it is by Kings of Leon. This idea is further shown by the lack of main image of the band. Generally, adverts will have an image of the band in order to create some sort of iconography, but as this album isn't the first by the band, they already have a significant fan base. The tag line "The New Album. October 18th" is also significant. Firstly, it shows the date that the album is released, which will inform the audience of when they will be able to buy the album. The language choice, such as 'New Album', helps to highlight the product that they are promoting. The inclusion of the logo for the company 'Play' highlights an example of convergence between the band and the website, highlighting that this is an example of a website that supports the band, and more importantly where the audience can go and buy the album.

This advert aims to promote a new album by 'Plan B'. A notable feature of this advert is the colour choice that is made. The fact that the advert uses quite dark colouring perhaps reflects the dark nature of the songs included on the able, and perhaps hints at the idea that the album is quite serious. This is further reflected by the idea that artists face is also in quite a serious position. The fact that the artist is shown in the advert is fairly conventional, and it also displays that the artist is not well known enough to sell records based solely on his name, but instead he requires iconography (This may reflect the fact that this was his first album released under the name Plan B). Plan B is written in bold writing, much larger than anything else on the page, which instantly shows the audience who the album is by. A number of reviews are included on the page, which help to give the audience an idea of what they might expect to hear in the album. It also shows to the audience that they can expect a high quality album.  The tag line 'Multi Platinum Album' shows that the album has already received worldwide aclaim, which may further convince the audience that they need to buy the CD, as it has been received so well.  An image of the CD is also included on the poster, which further adds to the idea of iconography, and gives the audience an image of the album that they should keep an eye out for.

This advert aims to promote a new live album by the band 'The Killers'. The colour scheme employed by this advert, using the dark colours of purple and black, help to instantly recognise the advert with the band, as this colour scheme is shared with one of their album colour schemes. This idea of recognisances is further seen by the inclusion of the band name, written in the typeface that has become synonymous with the band name, included at the top of the page, much larger than anything else. The tag line "All the greatest hits" highlights to the audience that the album includes only "great" songs, which as a result may convince them to invest in the album. The background image of the royal albert hall, cohesively working with the tag line "Live from the albert hall", shows that the band is not only successful enough to perform in such a location, but also adds a sense of prestige to the poster, and highlighting to the audience that the band is not just 'any band', but instead, they are important and are known in the industry. The list of tracks from the album are shown at the bottom, which will further aid the reader, as they will be able to see if they recognise any of the songs played on the album. Finally, the inclusion of 'CD/DVD' highlights that the album is available in a number of formats, appealing to a much wider audience. This is included alongside the release date of the album, which will let the reader know when they can look to buy the album. 

Audience Research

In this task, I have researched what sort of audience I would be looking to appeal to for my music video, taking into account both my song choice, and my planned layout of my music video.

A Selection of Influential Music Videos

In this task, I chose 3 music videos that I am finding useful in terms of giving me ideas for my music videos, and explained how I find them useful.